1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to a maneuvering system for a marine vessel and, more particularly, to a system by which a marine vessel can be maneuvered through the use of a joystick and two or more independently steerable marine propulsion devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many different systems are known to those skilled in the art of marine vessel design for steering a marine vessel. In addition, numerous techniques have been developed by which an operator of a marine vessel can use a joystick to command various movements of the marine vessel. Many of these systems utilize two or more independently steerable marine propulsion devices that are manipulated in order to result in a desired movement of the marine vessel. These systems are particularly useful in docking a pleasure craft. Some of these maneuvering systems incorporate a bow thruster in combination with other propulsion devices, such as sterndrive units or outboard motors. However, some marine propulsion systems have been developed which provide adequate maneuvering of the marine vessel through the use of two independently steerable marine propulsion devices without the need for a bow thruster.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,521,589, which issued to Kemp on Jul. 21, 1970, describes an underwater vessel that comprises a shell having a pair of propelling and maneuvering devices mounted on opposite sides thereof. Each of the propelling devices includes a transversely extending hollow gooseneck, having an arm-receiving opening in one side thereof. An L-shaped arm assembly includes a hollow base portion extending coaxially through the gooseneck and a hollow secondary portion extending transversely of the base portion, geared thereto, and projecting through the arm-receiving opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,111, which issued to Krautkremer et al. on Sep. 2, 1980, describes a drive and control device for a watercraft having at least one pair of steerable propellers. The pair of steerable propellers is spaced longitudinally along the center of the watercraft from a center of lateral resistance on the watercraft. The steerable propellers are also spaced equidistant from the longitudinal centerline and on opposite sides thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,659, which issued to Ito et al. on Sep. 8, 1987, describes an apparatus for steering joystick of ship. The rotation angles around the X and Y axes due to the operation of a joystick lever having degrees of freedom of three axes are respectively detected by two rotation angle detectors. A push button switch is provided at the edge of the joystick lever. When the push button switch is not operated, the operating direction and operation amount of the joystick lever are calculated on the basis of the outputs of two rotation angle detectors. When the push button switch was operated, the operating direction and operation amount of the joystick lever are calculated from the output of either one of two rotation angle detectors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,782, which issued to Takahashi on Aug. 14, 1990, describes a remotely operated vehicle. The vehicle is provided with not less than three thrusters arranged in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle body. The center of gravity of the vehicle body includes a pendulum and the center of buoyancy of the vehicle body including the pendulum are set in agreement with each other and the pendulum is provided so that it can be turned around a Y-axis extending in the lateral direction of the vehicle body and passing the center of gravity thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,929, which issued to Rieben on Feb. 25, 1992, describes a paired motor system for a small boat propulsion and steerage. The motors provide a steerable propelling system for small boats. Each motor drives a propeller carried in an elongate channel communicating with each lateral side of a boat beneath the water line to one boat end to move water through the channels for boat propulsion. The electric motors are of variable speed, reversible and separately controlled by a joystick-type control device to provide differential control of motor speed to allow steerage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,379, which issued to Masini et al. on Jul. 20, 1999, discloses an actuating mechanism with an improved mounting structure. The mechanism is provided with supported members that extend away from the centerline of a cylinder bore, piston and actuator rod of an actuation mechanism that uses pressure to move the piston within a cylinder bore. Two support members are attached to a cylinder housing and provided with mounting holes. The two support members are spaced apart from the cylinder housing to allow external support structure to be placed between the cylinder housing and the two support members. Appropriate fasteners, such as bolts, attach each of the two support members to the external support structure in such a way that the cylinder housing can pivot about an axis extending through both bolts. Most importantly, a line extending through the supporting bolts intersect the cylinder bore at a place between its opposing ends. This reduces the required space necessary to allow the cylinder to pivot properly.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,841, which issued to Alexander et al. on Nov. 7, 2000, discloses a waterjet docking control system for a marine vessel. The maneuvering control system utilizes pressurized liquid at three or more positions on a marine vessel in order to selectively create thrust that moves the marine vessel into desired locations and according to chosen movements. A source of pressurized liquid, such as a pump or a jet pump propulsion system, is connected to a plurality of distribution conduits which, in turn, are connected to a plurality of outlet conduits. In any of the embodiments of the invention, a joystick control can be used to select or deselect each of the outlet conduits and, in certain embodiments, to select the direction of operation of an associated reversible motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,853, which issued to Lanyi et al. on May 22, 2001, discloses a simplified docking method and apparatus for a multiple engine marine vessel. A docking system is provided which utilizes the marine propulsion unit of a marine vessel, under the control of an engine control unit that receives command signals from a joystick or pushbutton device, to respond to a maneuver command from the marine operator. The docking system does not require additional propulsion devices other than those normally used to operate the marine vessel under normal conditions. The docking or maneuvering system of the invention uses two marine propulsion units to respond to an operator's command signal and allows the operator to select forward or reverse commands in combination with clockwise or counterclockwise rotational commands either in combination with each other or alone.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,977, which issued to Treinen et al. on Aug. 21, 2001, discloses an integrated hydraulic steering actuator. The actuator is provided for an outboard motor system in which the cylinder and piston of the actuator are disposed within a cylindrical cavity inside a cylindrical portion of a swivel bracket. The piston within the cylinder of the actuator is attached to at least one rod that extends through clearance holes of a clamp bracket and is connected to a steering arm of an outboard motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,340, which issued to Fetchko et al. on Jun. 18, 2002, describes a twin outboard motor hydraulic steering system. The steering assembly applies a force to the tiller arms of twin marine, outboard propulsion units and rotates the propulsion units about a steering axis between a center position and hard over positions to each side of the center position. A tie bar is pivotally connected to the steering apparatus and pivotally connected to the tiller arm of a second propulsion unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,349, which issued to Fadeley et al. on Sep. 10, 2002, describes a stick control system for watercraft boats. The boat has a reversing bucket for controlling forward/reverse thrust and a rotatable nozzle for controlling sideward forces. A bucket position sensor is connected to the reversing bucket, and the bucket is controlled using the output of the position sensor to enable the bucket to automatically moved to a neutral thrust position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,803, which issued to Dickson on Feb. 3, 2004, describes a watercraft steering apparatus with a joystick. The apparatus includes a movable two directional joystick including a steering arm, a depressible throttle trigger affixed to an upper end portion of the joystick, and a pulley system including a steering cable attached to a lower end of the steering arm, the steering cable extending around pulleys affixed to the starboard or port side of the watercraft in matching pairs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,703, which issued to Erickson on Jun. 29, 2004, discloses a hydraulically assisted gear shift mechanism for a marine propulsion device. The mechanism is for use in conjunction with a gear shift device and provides a hydraulic cylinder and piston combination connected by a linkage to a gear shift mechanism. Hydraulic pressure can be provided by a pump used in association with either a power trim system or a power steering system. Hydraulic valves are used to pressure selected regions of the hydraulic cylinder in order to actuate a piston which is connected, by an actuator, to the gear shift mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,563, which issued to Dickson on May 24, 2005, describes a joystick steering apparatus for a watercraft. The apparatus includes a joystick comprising at least three movable interconnected swinging arms with a first and third one of the swinging arms being generally vertically oriented and a second one of the swinging arms being generally horizontally oriented. It also includes a mechanical housing supporting the joystick and at least one mechanism movably connecting the joystick apparatus to an outdrive of the watercraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,046, which issued to Kaji et al. on Feb. 7, 2006, describes a marine vessel running controlling apparatus. The apparatus controls running of a marine vessel and includes a pair of propulsion systems which respectively generate propulsive forces on a rear port side and a rear starboard side of the hull and a pair of steering mechanisms which respectively change steering angles defined by directions of the propulsive forces with respect to the hull. The apparatus includes a target combined propulsive force acquiring section, a target movement angle acquiring section, a steering controlling section which controls the steering angles of the respective steering mechanisms such that a turning angular speed of the hull is substantially equal to a predetermined target angular speed, a target propulsive force calculating section which calculates target propulsive forces to be generated from the respective propulsion systems based on the target combined propulsive force, the target movement angle and the steering angles of the respective steering mechanisms, and a propulsive force controlling section which controls the respective propulsion systems so as to attain the target propulsive forces.
U.S. Pat. RE39,032, which issued to Gonring et al. on Mar. 21, 2006, discloses a multi-purpose control mechanism for a marine vessel. The mechanism allows the operator of a marine vessel to use the mechanism as both a standard throttle and a gear selection device and, alternatively, as a multi-axes joystick command device. The control mechanism comprises a base portion and a lever that is movable relative to the base portion along with a distal member that is attached to the lever for rotation about a central axis of the lever. A primary control signal is provided by the multi-purpose control mechanism when the marine vessel is operated in a first mode in which the control signal provides information relating to engine speed and gear selection. The mechanism can also operate in a second or docking mode and provide first, second and third secondary control signals relating to desired maneuvers of the marine vessel.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/248,482 (M09992), which was filed on Oct. 12, 2005 by Bradley et al., discloses a method for maneuvering a marine vessel in response to a manually operable control device. The marine vessel is maneuvered by independently rotating first and second marine propulsion devices about their respective steering axes in response to commands received from a manually operable control device, such as a joystick. The marine propulsion devices are aligned with their thrust vectors intersecting at a point on a centerline of the marine vessel and, when no rotational movement is commanded, at the center of gravity of the marine vessel. Internal combustion engines are provided to drive the marine propulsion devices. The steering axes of the two marine propulsion devices are generally vertical and parallel to each other. The two steering axes extend through a bottom surface of the hull of the marine vessel.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/248,483 (M09993), which was filed on Oct. 12, 2005 by Bradley et al., discloses a method for positioning a marine vessel. A vessel positioning system maneuvers a marine vessel in such a way that the vessel maintains its global position and heading in accordance with a desired position and heading selected by the operator of the marine vessel. When used in conjunction with a joystick, the operator of the marine vessel can place the system in a station keeping enable mode and the system then maintains the desired position obtained upon the initial change of the joystick from an active mode to an inactive mode. In this way, the operator can selectively maneuver the marine vessel manually and, when the joystick is released, the vessel will maintain the position in which it was at the instant the operator stopped maneuvering it with the joystick.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/365,175 (M09981), which was filed by Griffiths et al. on Mar. 1, 2006, discloses a selectively lockable marine propulsion device. A steering system for a marine vessel is provided with a connecting link attached to first and second marine propulsion devices. The connecting link is selectively disposable in first and second states of operation which either require synchronous rotation of the first and second marine propulsion devices or, alternatively, independent rotation of the two marine propulsion devices. This allows both marine propulsion devices to be operated by a single actuator or, alternatively, independent maneuvering of the two marine propulsion devices during certain types of docking procedures.
The patents described above are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in the description of the present invention.